Detective Hilton Botha’s decision to quit the police “is
an internal and a private affair,” Malila said in a phone
interview today. The resignation won’t affect the case against
Pistorius, who was released on bail on Feb. 22, he said. Botha
was dropped as lead investigator after it emerged that he was
facing seven charges of attempted murder for allegedly firing at
a minibus in 2011.

Pistorius, who ran in the Olympics last year, is charged
with the murder of his 29-year-old model girlfriend, Reeva
Steenkamp. Pistorius, 26, says he shot her through a locked
toilet door at 3 a.m. on Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, after
mistaking her for an intruder.

During the bail hearing at a Pretoria court, Magistrate
Desmond Nair said Botha made several errors, including possibly
contaminating the crime scene, not checking for other mobile
phones owned by Pistorius and misidentifying substances found at
his home as testosterone.

Pistorius is next scheduled to appear in court on June 4.
Steenkamp’s family won’t attend court proceedings, her uncle,
Mike Steenkamp, told broadcaster CNN today.